GRAINS-Soybeans up for 2nd day on bargain-buying, wheat rises

* Soybeans extend gains, near last session's 1-month high
* Wheat up after closing lower on pressure from Russian
rains
(Adds details, quote)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans rose for a
second session on Wednesday as bargain-buying lifted the market
after prices dropped to their lowest in 10 years last week.
Wheat ticked higher after closing lower on Tuesday when the
market was weighed down by rains in Russia that brought relief
to the drought-hit crop.
The most-active soybean futures on the Chicago Board Of
Trade gained 0.7 percent to $8.51-1/2 a bushel by 0212
GMT, having climbed on Tuesday to $8.58 a bushel, the highest
since Aug. 24.
Wheat was up 0.4 percent at $5.23 a bushel, having
closed down 1.2 percent on Tuesday and corn was unchanged
at $3.63-3/4 a bushel, having gained 0.9 percent in the previous
session when prices hit the highest since Sept. 12 at $3.64-1/4
a bushel.
"Looks like soybeans are finding some support at these
levels as low prices are attracting some buying," said Ole Houe,
director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities in
Sydney.
"The current U.S. prices show a significant discount to
South American beans to the point where sales hypothetically
would work into China even with the tariffs."
Soybeans have faced pressure as the trade war between the
United States and China escalates.
Soybeans are the biggest U.S. agricultural export to China.
Shipments have nearly dried up since Beijing applied an
additional tariff on U.S. soybeans in July.
China is expected to purchase more soybeans from Brazil and
Argentina.
China is starting to buy more Argentine soybeans because of
the trade battle, while Argentina will in turn purchase more
U.S. soybeans to meet its own needs, oilseeds analysts Oil World
said on Tuesday.
Brazil, the world's No 1 soy exporter, is expected to import
around 1 million tonnes of the oilseed in coming months from its
largest global competitor, the United States, as local supplies
dwindle, according to Sao Paulo-based grain trader Agribrasil.
It would be the first time that the South American nation,
an agricultural powerhouse, needs to import large volumes of
soybeans from the United States - a result of massive exports by
Brazilian soy producers to China.
The U.S. soybean crop was 14 percent harvested as of Sunday
and corn was 16 percent harvested, according to U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) data issued on Monday.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybean,
soymeal and soyoil futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers
of wheat futures, traders said.
Grains prices at 0212 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 523.00 2.25 +0.43% -0.76% 529.73 60
CBOT corn 363.75 0.00 +0.00% +0.90% 362.06 67
CBOT soy 851.50 5.75 +0.68% +1.25% 848.65 62
CBOT rice 9.88 $0.00 +0.00% -0.05% $10.51 27
WTI crude 72.11 -$0.17 -0.24% +0.04% $68.94 74
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.176 -$0.001 -0.08% +0.13%
USD/AUD 0.7273 0.002 +0.32% +0.29%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per
hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Richard Pullin)